Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S review

OUR VERDICT

The Redmi Note 9S offers one among the foremost reliable experiences on a phone at its super-low price point. Its battery life is unmatched, the performance is usually consistent, and therefore the large display may be a joy to use.
Xiaomi’s Redmi Note series has thus far been a compelling line of affordable phones, including a number of the simplest budget powerhouses we’ve ever seen. watching them, it’s easy to know why they need been so well received - big displays, decent performance, and reliable batteries, ensuring they nail the essential necessities that buyers search for .

With the Redmi Note 9S, Xiaomi seems to be moving up the worth ladder to supply a more premium experience, with the marginally cheaper Redmi Note 9 landing for people that still need a rock bottom smartphone.

It's worth remarking that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S is essentially precisely the same phone because the India-only version of the Redmi Note 9 Pro, which itself is different during a few ways to the Redmi Note 9 Pro sold globally. That's pretty confusing, we're aware, but suffice to mention the Note 9S is different to the Note 9 Pro within the regions where both are available.

This review is predicated on a unit of the Redmi Note 9 Pro in India, but as that is the same phone because the Note 9S, our experiences will match what you'll expect from the Redmi Note 9S.

The Redmi Note 9S is best seen as a successor to the Redmi Note 8 Pro from 2019, which made strides in terms of the performance, battery capacity, and display size. Interestingly, those remain the key areas of improvement with the Redmi Note 9S, almost as if Xiaomi has found out what aspects matter the foremost .

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Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S price and availability
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S is out there to shop for only within the UK, at the time of writing, though which may change. It comes in two sizing versions - one with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and another 6GB / 128GB combo.

In the UK you'll pick it up for £199 (roughly $250 / AU$370), so it is a rather cheap phone. That's for the 4GB / 64GB version, except for the 6GB / 128GB model you will be paying £229 (around $280, AU$420).

Based on previous Xiaomi phones we wouldn't expect the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S to form its thanks to the US, and Australian availability is uncertain because while many Xiaomi Mi phones are released there, not many Redmi phones are.

Saying that, one among the few Redmi phones in Australia is that the Redmi Note 8 Pro, therefore the Note 9S happening sale there wouldn't be totally shocking.

Design

Xiaomi’s smartphone designs have matured by great lengths in recent years, going from uninspiring metal backs to high-end glass sandwiches. The Redmi Note 9S may be a refinement to the planning of previous phones, and therefore the result's a hefty phone with a unibody glass design that appears better than what the worth tag may suggest.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S's camera bump protrudes considerably, but the phone doesn’t rock much while it’s on a table, presumably due to the square 2 x 2 camera layout rather than the lenses being during a line across the spine.

Around the bump there is a slight lip to avoid the lenses scratching, and since of this the bump is one among the foremost pronounced we have seen on a recent smartphone. apart from the camera island, the rear is pretty minimal and fashionable with no other eyesores. Notably, both the rear and therefore the cameras are covered by Gorilla Glass 5, unlike previous Redmi phones.

While the move to a premium finish is appreciated, there's no denying that this is often an enormous and heavy phone. While it does bring a much bigger display and battery to justify that stature (more thereon ahead), you’ll have a tough time fitting it in your pocket.

Moving your hand to interact with the length of the screen is certain to tire your wrists. Other inherent big phone problems, like an inability to use it one-handed or difficulty in reaching the quantity rocker, also are experienced here.

The back of the Redmi Note 9S is quite slippery, which gets aggravated thanks to the sheer size of the phone. it'll start gliding off any surface you place it on. Thankfully, a silicone case is included within the box.

The power button on the proper fringe of the phone doubles as a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and is placed during a natural position. Having the facility button and scanner combined means there’s alittle learning curve related to it, as there'll be instances when the display will get unlocked once you want to lock it and the other way around .

Next to the present power button is that the volume rocker, though like we said we found it a touch hard to succeed in thanks to the dimensions of the phone. There's also a 3.5mm headphone jack on the phone, perfect for people that like their audio wired.

Display

Big displays are a neighborhood of the Redmi Note series’ DNA from the start , with each generation overshadowing the last. The Redmi Note 9S is not any different. because of its 6.67-inch display, it’s the most important screen ever seen on the series, and it's a tall 20:9 ratio . Viewing videos or playing games on this bigger canvas is enjoyable and immersive.

It’s an LCD panel with a resolution of two ,400 x 1,080. The max brightness is simply about adequate, but stronger outdoor sunlight can definitely overpower it. Because it's LCD, the blacks and contrast levels are faraway from perfect, and you’ll probably mistake the blacks for greys. the colours otherwise are pretty accurate, a minimum of when viewed head-on.

We did notice occasional light bleeding and non-uniformity across the display, especially when viewing darker content, however this is often not very prominent and is straightforward to overlook. This was predominantly towards the edges and therefore the notch. However, this seems to be an isolated issue and not one that anyone else reported, so it might be a defect with our early model.

The Redmi Note 9S is that the first within the family to maneuver to a punch-hole camera, a feature that had previously been reserved for costlier devices.

Without stepping into the talk of which type of a camera housing is best , we might a bit like to say that it's not the littlest we've seen, and seems to be placed just a touch less than on most other devices - therefore it's unwieldy and stretches the status bar too. But it’s easy to overlook, especially if you’re not comparing it to a high-end device.

Just like the rear , the display is additionally covered by Gorilla Glass 5. within the month that we used the phone without a case, there wasn't one scratch or ding across the front or the rear , even after multiple drops and slides.

While the display isn’t terrible in any aspect, it falls behind the competition in one key way: refresh rate, because the Redmi Note 9S has the 'standard' 60Hz rather than an increased spec.

We understand that it's unreasonable to expect an excessive amount of at this price, but we’re talking a few hugely competitive segment of smartphones (super-cheap phones), where one spec can tilt the result the opposite way.

Some of the Redmi Note 9S’ direct competitors - like the Realme 6 and therefore the Poco X2 - offer higher refresh rates at almost an equivalent price. It’s not a necessity but it makes for a noticeably smoother-seeming interface.